Saturday, July 31, 2004

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ohio resident Bob Stewart says of President Bush: "He's been a world-class polarizer. I don't know if I can stomach four more years with him as president. He misled us into the war in Iraq and has mismanaged everything since."

A raging Democrat? No, Stewart is a Republican, one of an unknown number of such voters who plan to back John Kerry, out of despair over the war in Iraq and disappointment over budget deficits and social policies.MORE

Oh, there might be one or two Democrats who have suddenly decided to vote for Bush, but these people have strayed from the path of goodness, and should be welcomed back into the fold, once they see the error of their ways.

Bush and the Right Wing bullies, liars and thieves, have robbed and hoodwinked for too long. They have tried to divide the United States. In other words, they have tried to create a Disunited States...and people, Americans are better than that. And we will show the World that we are not the War-loving, Mammoniacal, Power-hungry egoists the current administration hath foisted upon America and the World.

For those Republicans, Independents and Greens who are not paid operatives of these few and still powerful, I want to welcome you to join with us, let's make it a mandate, and remove these disuniters from our, the people's, White House.
____________________________________...for many Republicans, their Party has literally "left the building". And we will take up that building, and will build a better America and World. ___________________________As witnessed during the Convention, the Democratic Party has not left the people. It has united the people. And we want you to join us. Your better future is also our wish. And we can work toward a nation and world where everyone can live in Peace and flourish.

But for many Republicans, their Party has literally "left the building". And we will take up that building, and will build a better America and World.

Join us in this fight. It is the right thing to do. The very United States and World are at stake.

One of the phrases that keeps making its rounds is: "outside the mainstream", as in "Mike Moore is outside the mainstream". But what is this "mainstream". And what does it mean to be outside the mainstream". Indeed, what does it mean to be "inside the mainstream".
And what if... the mainstream is polluted?

Over the coming weeks, we at The Anonymoses Hyperlincoln Institute for Serious Living, will explore these issues, and hope that we can all gain for our expanding understanding of "the mainstream", so that when the mainstream has to finally grow up and accept responsibility, it will do so armed with the knowledge, wisdom and courage it takes to finally leave the mainstream, and set out as an individual, with thoughts and visions of one's own.

The so-called "mainstream" is arguably already polluted, due to the principle:

"Garbage in, garbage out."

And, that the mainstream has been fed a diet of garbage for so many years now, is irrefutable. Violence, fear, deception, baseness...these are the words to describe the shows watched by "the mainstream", while those outside the mainstream are seeking knowledge, wisdom, truth, and beauty elsewhere -- the web, books, in music and art, in social gatherings, and in churches and universities.

One problem with the mainstream can best be described by referring the reader to a recent news event: The 9/11 Report. In the 9/11 report, one of the main causes for the failure of the Bush Administration, and on down, was this:

GROUPTHINK

Schopenhauer put it this way:

"DULL MINDS THINK ALIKE"

The idea of a "mainstream" presupposes a fair amount of said "groupthink"; thinking alike.
And indeed, there is a quote that is popular in America which says just the opposite...namely that "great minds think alike". I guess this is a convenient justification for groupthink. Just like "Finders keepers, losers weepers" is a convenient justification for theft. Both demand examination. Why can't it be: "Finders leavers, losers finders"? In some cultures you don't have to worry about leaving an item here or there, or that some brat will come along and lift it, skanking away with the phrase of justification singing in his head. But I digress...

One should not feel inferior for not being in the mainstream, unless, perhaps, you mean the mainstream of humanity. But only inhumane acts and wishes will boot you from that camp. It is your birthright, and it is squandered away by but a few.

Do not reward these few. And certainly don't elect them into high office.

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Ignore warnings at own perilDALLAS (AP) - Fierce overnight storms dropped up to 13 inches of rain in the Dallas area, flooding highways and homes, knocking out power to thousands and collapsing the roof of a 911 call center.

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

I have long recognized that Edwards is one of the best things to happen to the Democratic Party, and, frankly, America, in a long time. So to see that someone had the foreskin, I mean foresight, to cobble together this wondrous tribute to our highest future, is, well, supercalifragilistic, if not expialidocious. Darned prescient too!
I would like to invite you to my little blog thang, whereon I have some of the best images of Gentleman Edwards I have yet to see. And, I would submit, a better choice than exists presently on this site. Think Diane Arbus. The opposite of Diane Arbus.In other words, use photos that bring out that which he naturally has, but which is often missed in photos. (And no, I am not talking about the mole!) I'm talking about his naturalness, integrity, intellectual curiosity, caring, listening, and his passion, intelligence, elegance, grace, and wit.
Things merely staged in the current officeholder.
God bless this endeavor. There IS hope in the world. Help is on the way...

Poor Bob Graham. Having to follow the the Reverend Sharpton. And after Sharpton knocked numerous homeruns, rousing the crowd with extended applause. And after Sharpton indicted the Bush Administration so powerfully. Poor Bob Graham.
And then to hear him punctuate his moribund awkwardness with the non-word, "nucular"!
The one issue the Democrats were going to mop the floor with.

"the blogosphere has become the most vital and important news source in our country.""Big media can't see the forest for the trees -- until it's assembled for them by the bloggers."These things and more at HyperLincoln

That's why I am such a big fan of Internet-based reporters and bloggers. When these folks decide that something matters, they chomp down hard and refuse to let go. They're the true pit bulls of reporting. The only way to get them off a story is to cut off their heads (and even then you need to pry their jaws open). And because of the nature of Internet journalism, they will often start with a small story, or a piece of one -- a contradictory quote, an unearthed document, a detail that doesn't add up -- that the big outlets would deem too minor. But it's only minor until, well, it's not. Big media can't see the forest for the trees-- until it's assembled for them by the bloggers. That's why the blogosphere has become the most vital and important news source in our country.."

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

The Networks didn't want you to see your future. Some things never change.
But those of us who told the Networks to f*ck off, and tuned into PBS, got to see the great Barack Obama, and know now that his words will stand as among the most inspirational in this historic and exceptional convention.

Mr. Obama, the "Tiger Woods of Politics", found the most important message, which is...

Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight...there's not a liberal America and a conservative America — there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America;there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too...We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people... all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America...- Barack Obama (2004 Democratic Convention, Boston, Mass)_____________________________________________________Our future is brighter... Kerry picks Edwards. Edwards picks Obama. Now we got a future...

I don't know about Cable. I yanked it from my TV set after their pathetic performance during the Selection of 2000. I could not trust Cable.
But I do know about ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS, and of these, PBS is the only reason I don't simply throw the TV out the window. But even they had pundits who talked over valuable films and speakers.
Liberal Media MY ASS!

My questions to Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather are these:

1. Did you watch the Convention during the four hours of "prime time"?
2. If so, why is it that you can see it, and we can't? Are you more important than Carter, Gore, and the American People?
3. If not, why not? Do you not deem it important enough? Are you afraid you will be moved, and thus risk your Republican shillability?
4. Are you receiving memos, like the lemmings of FOX News? Or are you the ones putting out the memos?
5. Are the memos by people who are more important than President Carter? If so, please tell us who these megabosses are? They may pay you money, but we pay you eyeballs and ears...and sadly, minds and hearts as well. And you wouldn't be where you are without our eyes and ears; our hearts and minds...

Show us as much as you can. Try hard. Lord knows you make enough! And Lord knows many of you have performed great acts of bravery and courage. Use that courage now!
Don't prostitute yourselves to your paycheck. Go above and beyond!

Why The Republicans want to reduce the coverageThey can't fill up the time. They haven't people or ideas.

So why is it that pharmaceutical ads wind up on the screen instead of Jimmy Carter or Al Gore? Well, for one, they pay to disrupt the coverage. For another, the GOP realizes that the less the people hear and know, the better off they are. I'd go one step further and say...if they have to know more, make sure it is confusing, distractive, or divisive.

In what has been called the best speech of all time, Bill Clinton spelled out the differences between Kerry and Bush, the Democrats and the Republicans. He summed it up by warning, "They need a divided America...WE don't."
As it turns out, the same can be said for the Big Media...who are proving to be, like FOX, just another arm of the Republican Party.
____________________________________________
"You look like George W. reading Children's books while the towers, and America, tumble down."____________________________________________

What we are witnessing needs to be documented as Exhibit A, when the perpetrators are finely brought to trial. We see a foreshadowing in "Outfoxed" of how to get the dominant Media to either play it straight, or be upfront with their bias...even if it is simply telling the audience, like Bill Clinton did, that they are in the top 1%.
And after doing that, how 'bout do some reading, from the classics, on Mammon, sins of omission and hubris. You may ask yourselves why you are being so lazy, here at the most important time of our lives?

You look like George W. reading Children's books while the towers, and America, tumble down.

He says he's doing everything he can to put John Kerry in the White House with John Edwards beside him. After seeing former President Jimmy Carter speak at the Democratic convention last night, I was convinced of his commitment. He waxed nostalgic for days past, when he believed that the goodness, honesty, compassion, decency, and competency of the government was more reflective of the nature of the American people.
He stressed the fact that he preserved the peace for this country in the U.S. Navy under two other former presidents, a Democrat named Harry Truman and a Republican named Dwight D. Eisenhower, both of whom had faced active military responsibilities with honor.
They knew the horrors of war before they'd come to office.
They'd used restraint, wise judgement, and possessed a clear sense of mission due to their experience in the field.
They never put an American soldier at risk in wars in which the nation's utmost vital interests had not been threatened...
...nor did they mislead the citizens of the nation.
He stressed that John Kerry had shown up for duty and served with honor and distinction in the Navy. Like Truman and Eisenhower before him, John Kerry knows the horrors of war and the responsibilities of leadership.

In the war on terror, Jimmy Carter convinced me that he truly believed John Kerry would restore good judgement and maturity to our Oval Office. I think, after all is said and done this election year, there is no greater issue on the American mind than national security. After 9/11, we are a changed people who have lost our sixties-era innocence of belief that the world is going to be, by its own nature, existing in a state of permanent peace.
The fact that we are changed does not mean we are afraid. It means we are aware and alert to a reality we never fully knew existed before that beautiful autumn morning three years ago in New York City. Our finest Intelligence agencies didn't even grasp the reality. Knowing we are vulnerable to violence borne of such bitterness that exists outside our borders doesn't mean we need a war president to plot more unnecessary wars which will, no doubt, create more bitterness.
We have a great challenge facing us that should not be ours to face alone. This is an international challenge.

If our government cannot be truthful in their commitment to a measured peace or respectful, by its actions, for civil liberties and human rights, our nation shall fall from grace as an esteemed global leader.
The fall has already begun.
Our credibility has been shattered.
We are once again becoming an isolated nation, which not only endangers our freedoms as Americans as regular (now vulnerable) travelers of the world outside our borders, but takes us backward in the economic strides we've made in the world. If Americans are "safer" today because of Bush's wars, that safety zone doesn't go much further than the borders of their own American homes. We've made little progress in protecting our own homeland. You'd have to be delusional to miss the fact that new terrorists are being recruited and Iraq is on the brink of civil war while our troops still carry the full risk of their security issues.

Last night, Jimmy Carter said his words with bright-eyes and a smile that had the wisdom of many years of service to our nation and the good of mankind behind it. He told us that, "without truth — without trust — America cannot flourish". Trust is the sacred covenant between a president and his people and when that trust is broken, the bonds that hold our republic together begin to weaken.

Trust is the sacred covenant between a president and his people and when that trust is broken, the bonds that hold our republic together begin to weaken.

There was a time Mr. Carter felt that we understood the positive link between the defense of our own freedom and the promotion of human rights. He believes this has been severely damaged by extremism in our recent foreign policy, which has disunited our nation from our allies. He spoke of the fact that, for the first time since Israel became a nation, the Middle East process has come to a "screeching halt". Radical departures from pre-9/11 policies (which were based upon key American principles and values) have squandered our opportunity for much-needed world cooperation in the war on terror.
Carter believes that John Kerry will recommit our nation to common-sense principles that should transcend partisan differences. such as commitment to human rights; historic self-confidence (vs. fear and war-mongering); and a political agenda commited to uniting the country. Above all, Mr. Carter stated that in the world at large, we cannot lead if our leaders mislead.

Mr. Carter's core message on national security defined John Kerry's mission well. The issue is "whether America will provide global leadership that springs from the unity and integrity of the American people or whether extremist doctrines and the manipulation of truth will define America’s role in the world."

Jimmy Carter seemed confident and credible in what I believe was the best speech of the Convention to date. I believe he convinced many Americans that he truly trusts John Kerry to lead America back to greatness.

Monday, July 26, 2004

John Edwards is the bridge between the two Carolinas. Born in South Carolina, raised in North Carolina, Senator Edwards -- a man, a gentleman, who has honorably represented our states, could well become the windfall we have so long deserved. The towns and cities that are his roots, will blossom in tourism money alone! Exponentially!
But the entire states of North and South Carolina will benefit from an Edwards and Kerry victory...again, in just tourism dollars...some of which will be converted into future businesses, and such, since they will obviously love it, and want to relocate here.

A vote for Edwards is a vote for the Carolinas. Both of them.

But a vote for Bush is a vote for Texas...not a state we generally want to emulate. We are, frankly, better than that.

A victory for Edwards is a victory in every way. Tourism dollars are just the tip of the iceberg. Use your imagination. Manufacturing relief comes to mind. But I suspect the Carolinas will also become the hub of alternative energy and other 21st century endeavors.

Be optimistic! Vote FOR Edwards. But if you still can't...please don't vote AGAINST him, because it will be a vote against our future. A happy tourist is infinitely more desirable than a hostile one. We need to repair at home and abroad. And Edwards will be the conduit of our good ideas. Lord knows we need good ideas!

TASTE, CLASS, SINCERITY

John Edwards shares the same values as most Carolinians: Taste, Class and Sincerity. But these qualities are not just prized in the Carolinas...they are also qualities valued throughout the Southeast. And speaking from the experience of having lived a decade in New England...these are also qualities valued in that region. And also because of my years there, I was also able to see many hours of John Kerry over the years, and can testify that he too shares these values.

By Taste, I mean, among other things, Discernment. It is better to read Pat Conroy or Reynolds Price than to watch violence on TV, for instance. And Class demands a certain noblesse oblige, or sense of duty to serve those who need it. Sincerity means to be a good steward because you are a good steward, not for some ego boost, or financial recompense.

There are, of course, many other values that we all share: Honesty, Integrity, Openness, Friendliness, Sacrifice, Freedom, Liberty, Truth, Family, Love, Humor... and in among these, not one is not without home in the Kerry/Edwards ticket.

We should be happy these two gentlemen came along to guide us back to civility and respect around the globe.

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Sunday, July 25, 2004

EXCERPT:
"I think that starting tomorrow, we're going to have four of the eight most important days we can have as a nation," said Lehrer, criticizing CBS's Dan Rather, ABC's Peter Jennings, and NBC's Tom Brokaw for not getting more air time. "I'm sorry. You guys are a hell of a lot more important than your bosses are willing to admit."

Addressing the challenges of covering politics in a politically polarized environment, CBS Rather stated that "fear has increased in every newsroom in America," and added that reporting on explosive issues can bring a torrent of e-mails and phone calls. That can lead to a situation, he said, in which journalists conclude that "when you run this story, you're asking for trouble with a capital 'T'. . . Why run it?"

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About Me

Social Media Humorist & author of "The Great Chain of Conversation", and composer of "Powwowiraqsi" and other love songs. Lover of wit, charm, grace, music, wisdom, nature, spirit, art & humanity. Cured hiccups (breathe in a slow continuous figure-8). Wordjones. Composer. Idea Consultant. Social Media Advisor. Connecting the good and great for the greater good.